A chronicle of an average 38 year-old attempting to dunk a basketball while increasing PRs in the squat and bench press.
My goals: Dunk a basketball (again), squat 400 pounds, and bench press 275 pounds.
Another week of Jump Manual training and my knees are feeling good. I played basketball Monday morning and then performed my plyometric routine in the gym after we were done playing. I had a rec league game that night and my legs felt pretty good while I played. During my lower body weight training session later in the week, I switched from regular deadlifts to snatch-grip deadlifts. I had to use less weight but I like how the exercise felt. For the next 2 days, however, I could hardly bend down to tie my shoes because of how sore my glutes and legs were. I'm liking the combination of Bulgarian split squats and snatch-grip deadlifts.
My results for the week were:
Vertical jump: I didn't measure my standing vertical, but I was able to grab a 9'11" rim with two hands, jumping off of two feet, using a two-step approach.
Bulgarian split squats: Best set was 145 pounds for 5 reps.
Snatch-grip deadlifts: I used 225 pounds for 3 sets of 5 reps. I lifted the weight pretty explosively and should be able to increase the weight next week.
Hang power clean: 205 pounds for 1 rep.
Bench press: Best set was 235 pounds for 2 reps.
45-degree incline bench press: I maxed out at 225 pounds for 1 rep.
We lost our city rec league game 88-82. I shot the ball well and my knees felt good during and after the game.
We had a big snowstorm recently that left a ton of snow that isn't going anywhere. This has caused me to go completely indoors for my training.
I was happy that my knees didn't hurt after my plyometric training on Tuesday. I switched from back squats to bulgarian split-squats on my lifting day on Friday. I love squats, they are my favorite exercise, but I switched so that I could work on any strength imbalances between my legs and, hopefully, get over my knee issues. From what I've read, a lot of strength coaches love bulgarian split-squats for improving one's vertical leap and have had success increasing one's back squat PR using bulgarian split-squats as the main lower body exercise. Per the Jump Manual support desk, I added leg extensions to help strengthen my knees.
In the past, my left leg was always my stronger leg. To my surprise, I could handle more reps with my right leg than I could with my left; it was a significant difference.
Vertical jump: I focused a lot on jumping form and didn't get a good vertical jump measurement. I'm trying to start out standing tall with my arms over my head, drop quickly into my jump stance, and then explode upwards with forceful arm swing. Habitually, I start out low before I jump upwards which has worked for my sore knees but has limited my progress.
Depth jumps: I was able to drop off of a chair and then land on the 5th step on my staircase.
Bulgarian split-squats: 95 pounds for 5 reps. I handled this weight pretty easily and should be able to increase it by a lot next week.
Deadlifts: 315 pounds for 5 reps.
Hang power cleans: 155 pounds for 5 reps. Normally, I start with the weight at my knees. This week, I started by holding the weight from a stand, moved the weight down to my knees, and then immediately exploded through the lift so that it feels more like a vertical jump.
Even though I've been training consistently for a while, using the Jump Manual has made my legs more sore than they've been in a while. The plyometric exercises felt great but the weightlifting kicked my butt.
Squats: 290 pounds for 3 sets of 3 reps. I did a fourth set with less weight at a slow pace: 4-count down and a 4-count back up. I need to lower the weight more for this set because I only got to 3 reps when I was trying for 5-8 reps.
Deadlifts: 315 pounds for 3 sets of 3 reps. Similar to my squat, I did a fourth set with less weight at a slow pace: 4-count down and a 4-count back up. I need to lower the weight more for this set because I only got to 2 reps when I was trying for 5 reps.
Hang power clean: 160 pounds for 3 sets of 3 reps.
Depth jumps: Jumped up onto a 41" platform. I increased the height that I dropped from (I stacked 3 chairs), but I think I'll go back to just one chair; my legs aren't ready for a greater height just yet.
Standing vertical: Best attempt was about 25.5".
Standing long jump: Best attempt was 8'5" about two weeks ago.
I'm going to spend some time working on my jumping form. I found a vertical jump calculator that estimates where your vertical should be based on your body weight and 1-rep squat. Based on that calculator (I don't know how accuarate it is), I should be jumping 27-28" without an approach.
My knees are also pretty sore today. I don't mind sore muscles, but having sore knees concerns me.
Here's how my jump looks right now. I'm not really bending my legs and I'm not really exploding through my jumps. It looks like I'm holding back on my 2-foot approach jumps. As my form gets better, I should be able to jump higher. In this video, I also included some depth jumps training. The platform that I'm jumping to is 38" without the pads and 40" with the pads.
I tested my one-rep max on various lifts this week. My PR's for the week were:
Squats: 340 pound x 1 rep. I definitely go below parallel and get a lot lower than I did when I maxed out earlier in the year. I think I could have done 2-3 more, but 1 is what I got.
Bench Press: 245 pounds. I was close to getting 275 last winter.
Hang Power Cleans: 195 pounds x 1 rep. I barely got that rep, too.
Deadlift: 340 pounds x 3 reps. I performed these immediately after maxing out on the squat.
I played basketball 4 times this week and my legs were feeling pretty good up until today. I definitely need some rest right now.
We've played 2 games in my city rec league and won them both. We have a decent team, but we are older than a lot of the other teams. We tend to walk the ball up the court, pass it around 7-8 times, and then make a shot. By that time, the other team hasn't had the ball in a while and will put up a quick shot that we'll rebound. We'll then walk the ball up the court, pass it around 7-8 times, and then make a shot. We'll keep doing that over and over until the other team gets so frustrated that they start turning the ball over and taking terrible shots. By the end of the first half, we're running up and down the court and scoring almost at will on some of these young teams.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Wow, it's ben a long while since I've last posted anything. Life has been busy with our 5 children and their activities, work, etc. I've still been working out but I've lost a lot of strength since the Spring. I stopped taking creatine a while ago because I was up to 220-225 pounds and felt that was too heavy for me. I was also sick with the flu and lost 5 pounds in one week; I went from being able to bench press 225 for up to 8 reps to only being able to bench that weight for one rep after the illness. I'm about 205 pounds right now and my vertical is now back to where it was in the Spring. I've been stretching consistently and my flexibility has improved a lot.
What's been fun is workout out with my sons. I had them start with an empty bar and add only 5 pounds to the bar each week. They can only add weight if they perform each lift with perfect form without any assitance from me. My oldest son has really added a lot of weight to the bar over the past 4 months and my younger son, expectedly, has had more difficulty. My goal for both of them is to have them get stronger but, more importantly at their ages, I've wanted them to get in the habit of strength training and to learn proper lifting mechanics. My oldest can really jump now. On a previous posting, I said that he could hit 8'10" with a standing jump but, come to find out with proper measurements, his reach wasn't quite that high. Right now, at age 12, he can touch 9'4"-9'5" off of two feet with a two-step approach. His coordination is still improving; he is only able to reach that height occasionally. He can also hit 7'9" on the standing long jump but, again, can't do it consistently. I think I'm having more fun training with them than I've ever had training by myself or with a team.
I'm in a city rec basketball league right now and will start church basketball in the next 4-6 weeks. I will also coach my sons basketball team again this year.
My goals right now are:
- get down to 190-195 pounds
- Squat 400 pounds
- Bench press 275 pounds
- Power clean 250 pounds (this will take some time)
- Dunk with one hand
Well, life for me changed in the past 2 weeks. We just adopted a little girl and were out of the state for a couple of weeks. Now that I'm back home, life is still busy adjusting to a new baby in the house while still keeping up with our other children. While we were out of state, we stayed at a hotel that had an exercise room that had some stationary bikes, treadmills, an eliptical trainer, and a set of both 15 and 25 pound dumbbells. So, I got in some cardio and plyometric training, but no real weighlifting. I also played basketball only once during that time. So, while my vertical jump training has suffered in these two weeks, as has my sleep schedule, this beautiful baby girl makes life really good right now.
Pushing forward, I will continue my program with an increased emphasis on plyometric exercises. As a part of this, I will incorporate more jump roping both before my workout as part of my warmup and at the end of my workouts. My left hand feels great now so I'll be able to perform power cleans as a part of my training. I've gotten under the bar for squats once this week and tried the low bar position, but my shoulder flexibility is really poor. So, stretching my shoulders 1-2 times a day will also be a part of my routine so that I can perform low bar squats.
So, my new goals, which are also now listed at the top of my blog, are:
Dunk with two hands by June 4th.
Bench press 300 pounds by June 4th (now that my hand is completely healed, I should be able to make progress with this lift)
Not a great week. My legs were extremely tired when I played basketball. I felt like I was jumping higher for rebounds, but I didn't test my vertical because of how tired I was. My legs were also really tired when I tried to perform my plyometric exercises.
Overall, I am getting stronger and I feel like I'm rebounding better than I've been able to in a long while.
Squats: I worked up to 315 pounds for 3 reps. I pushed through the reps with a lot of force.
Deadlifts: I worked up to 315 pounds for 3 reps. I performed deadlifts after squatting and didn't have a lot of energy at that point.
Bench press: My left hand keeps feeling better after breaking it 7 weeks ago. I did lose some strength on my lifts, but not as much as I thought I would.
Day 1: 200 pounds for 7 sets of 5 reps
Day 2: 215 pounds for 10 sets of 3 reps
Barbell Rows: 210 pounds for sets of 5 reps
Overhead Press: 130 pounds for sets of 5 reps
For next week, I'm going to change my workout routine. I need to focus more on plyometrics (I have that strength I need but I need more bounce) and performing jumping exercises one day a week doesn't seem to be enough. So, I am going to split my plyo days and lower-body weightlifting days so that each day will start with plyometric exercises and end with weights. It will look something like this:
Monday or Tuesday:
Rim jumps
Depth jumps
Jump squats with weights
Squats - I'm going to try using a low-bar position for a while.
Calf Raises
Jump rope
Thursday or Friday
Sprints
Step-up jumps
Medicine ball throws
Power Cleans (I think my hand is ready for this)
Deadlifts
Zig-zags
Upper-body work will be performed twice weekly and will vary over time.
I am also going to stop taking creatine for a few weeks. Right now, my lower body is stronger than it's ever been (my upper body was, too, before breaking my hand), but I'm also heavier than I've ever been. I am 210-215 pounds and would like to get closer to 200 pounds by July.
I got in most of my training this week. I did better with stetching and nutrition. Here is a video of me jumping inbetween pick-up games during the week. I didn't get my best jump on video, but these were decent attempts. In this video, it looks like I'm holding back and not really exploding through my jumps. I also look tired.
Standing vertical: No change. Still frustrated about this.
One-step vertical: I got my entire hand over the rim; about a 29 inch vertical.
Dunk attempts: Stuffed by the rim and slammed it into the back of the rim. No success.
Squats: 305 pounds for sets of 5,4,3,3 reps. I was way tired, but I was still able to explode through the reps.
Bench press:
Day 1 - 175 pounds for 4 sets of 9 reps.
Day 2 - 190 pounds for 5 sets of 7 reps
Barbell Rows: 200 pounds for 2 sets of 5 reps. I'm taking it easier with this lift while I really focus on my bench.
Behind-the-neck Press: 95 pounds for 2 sets of 5 reps. Again, this week I'm using this as a flexibility exercise.
I had two city league tournament basektball games this week (we took second place), so my training was altered. I continued to stretch and eat better (I still need to do better at this), but I skipped my plyometric workout. I also did not test my vertical this week, but I felt like I really got off the ground during the championship game.
For the week:
Squats: 305 pounds for 3 sets of 3 reps each.
Bench press: 205 pounds for 3 sets of 5 reps. My hand felt great.
Barbell Rows: 205 pounds for 3 sets of 5 reps.
Behind-the-neck press: 95 pounds for 3 sets of 5 reps. I switched to this exercise to improve the flexibility of my shoulders. I won't go that high with the weight since it's more for flexibility.
I only have a few weeks to try and reach my goals. I was able to squat 340 pounds for 5 reps this week, but I'm not feeling confident about dunking with two hands. Because of my hand injury, bench pressing 300 pounds is definitely not happening between now and April (see week 21 and 22 postings).
Standing vertical: About 27 inches. No change.
One-step vertical: I almost put down a one-handed dunk on a 9'11" rim. The attempt was made after a church ball game when my legs were warmed up and loose.
Squats: 340 pounds for 5 reps. It looks like I'm about parallel on all of my reps; I always worry that I'm not hitting parallel. I didn't keep my lower back as tight as I should have on the last 2 reps.
Bench press: I was able to hold 135 pounds without my hand hurting at all. I performed 4 sets of 8 reps focusing on speed.
Barbell rows: I was able to hold 135 pounds without my hand hurting at all. I performed 4 sets of 8 reps focusing on speed.
I was hoping to have seen a better improvement in my vertical by now. So, I've done a review of my training habits and have made some observations:
I'm not stretching as much as I should. I'm only stretching an average of 4 times per week. this past week, I only stretched 3 times. On the weeks when I felt more explosive in my jumps, I stretched more than 5 times.
I'm neglecting core work. I've usually saved core exercises for the end of a workout and, on some days, i talk myself out of performing those exercises because I'm too tired.
My diet stinks. I did really well for while, but I've become lazy recently eating more granola bars and quick snacks rather than making a smoothie or spending a little time preparing something more nutritious. I also didn't drink enough water this past week and this was reflected in my overall energy levels.
So, here are commitments restated with a renewed resolve to stick to them:
I will perform a full-body stretching routine at least once daily, 7 days a week.
I will perform core exercises 4 days a week. On upperbody workout days, I will perform these exercises at the beginning of my workouts so that they aren't neglected.
I will eat 4-5 servings of both fruits and vegetables everyday, including the nasty vegetables that my wife may serve for dinner (she made me add that part). I will drink enough water everyday that I have at least two voids per day where the urine is clear. I will also consume a protein shake everyday along with creatine.
I will follow the Jump Manual program with active rest periods every 6 weeks. I will ice my knees after every workout and after every time I play basketball.
Here are my training results for the week:
Standing vertical: 27 inches - no change.
One-step vertical jump: No change - can still dunk a mini-ball.
Squats: I tried 340 pounds for 5 reps but just didn't have it in me this week. I hit 2 reps and then backed off to 295 pounds for the rest of my sets.
Hang jump shrugs: 135 pounds for each set of 5 reps. I was able to hold onto the bar with a lifting strap on my left hand without any pain in that hand during or after the workout.
I was able to perform pushups and inverted rows without anything more that some minor discomfort in my left hand.
Well, the hand is feeling better and has some more strength in it. I did play in my city rec league game on Monday. I had my hand and pinky taped like crazy and there was only one moment during the game when it really hurt. I went 2 for 8 from the field, but I had a decent number of rebounds.
Jump training on Tuesday went very well...it's amazing what a full night of sleep will do for you.
Standing vertical: About 27 inches. In this video, the rim is set at 8'4" and then 9'10". With this pair of shoes on, I am 6'1". Since I get my head even with the rim, that is about a 27" vertical. You'll get to watch me dunk a small ball with a one-step approach (in case you're wondering, I'm using a Disney Little Mermaid ball. Don't judge me :-))
Back Squats: 340 pounds for 3 reps. I had a wrap and a lifting strap on my left hand so that I could actually grip the bar with my injured hand. Unfortunately, I think it caused the bar to pull downward on that side. Since my balance didn't feel right, I stopped at 3 reps instead of going for my goal of 5 reps.
Hang jump shrugs: With the wrap and lifting strap, I was able to hold a bar with 135 pounds on it without my hand hurting at all. I did 4 sets of 4-5 reps. Now that it's a few hours later, I realize my mistake: My hand is really sore right now.
March Madness is around the corner with conference tournaments taking place over next few weeks. I love this time of year!
2/10/13 - Here's a photo of my left hand one day after my injury.
My wedding ring started to get a little tight because of the swelling, so I had to use some olive oil to get it off. The palm is bruised and there isn't much strength in that hand.
Now its Friday, February 16th, and the swelling has done a lot. Once the swelling started to improve, I noticed pain in the 5th metacarpal. There is definitely a lot of point tenderness there. So, I now know that there is a fracture in that hand along with a sprain. Woo-hoo! Thankfully, the bone is in proper alignment so my activity is only limited to those activities that don't cause me any pain. Unfortunately, I can't work if I have a cast or a splint on that hand. So, I baby it at home and then am really careful with how I use it at work.
So, my list of measurements and lifts is a short one this week:
Standing vertical: 27 inches
One-step vertical: I was able to dunk a mini-basketball on my 9'10" hoop. I'm going to try this on a 10' hoop as well.
Sqauts: 275 pounds for 3 reps. My speed slowed down on the last rep, so I quit the set at that time.
Funny, my one-step vertical was up this week, but I had no energy and my legs felt like jelly (my favorite SportsCenter quote: It must be jelly 'cause jam don't shake like that!). I had to cut my plyo and weight workouts in half.
Standing vertical: 26 inches.
Hang power cleans: Missed 225 pounds, but I was closer this week; I almost got the bar as high as my clavicles.
Squats: Because my legs felt like jelly, I dropped the weight and focused on really exploding through the movement. I did 225 pounds for 3 sets of 5 reps. I could've done more, but I also wanted to improve my balance. I set a bench right below parallel so that, as soon as I barely touched it, I would explode upwards. It's not a true box squat, but rather a way to improve my balance and stability during the eccentric portion of the lift. In the past, I would pause at the bottom of the lift to make sure I was balanced. Because of this, I had difficulty exploding out of the hole; the end of the lift would be explosive, but I would struggle getting out of the hole. In order to explode out of the hole with a bench present, I have to be balanced throughout the entire lift.
Deadlifts: 225 pounds for 3 sets of 5 reps. Very easy but, again, I took it easy.
One-step vertical: On a 9'10" rim, I almost got my entire hand above the rim (see video below).
I still struggle with squats because of my feet. We are taught that our knees and toes whould always be in alignment to prevent knee injury and to have a more powerful squat. Here is what my feet look like when my knees are facing forward:
My left knee will track my toes while my right knee, in my nautral alignment, doesn't track any of my toes. So, I have to focus on where my heels are placed and the direction my knees are pointing and not pay as much atention to my toes. Is this an excuse for not squatting well? No, but I've had to modify the rules a little bit in order to accomodate my natural alignment.
Well, it's Saturday now and some of my goals are going to have to wait for a while. During a church league game this morning, I tore a muscle and some ligaments in my left hand. While stealing the ball, my left pinky got caught by the ball and bent in a weird way; it happened so fast that I can't describe exactly what happened. Immediately, I couldn't move any fingers on that hand. After a few minutes, I could move all of my fingers but couldn't move my pinky when any resistance was applied to it and I couldn't pick up anything with that hand. My hand starting swelling almost immediately.
Right now, my hand hurts constantly. The swelling and pain won't allow me to use that hand for much: I can barely pick up a thin book; I can't tie my shoes; struggle getting dressed; and I'm struggling to type this using two hands. Needeless to say, my upperbody workout had to be postponed. So, there won't be anymore upperbody lifts or hang cleans for a while. As is, I'm going to have to tape my finger like I would a turf-toe injury in order to play in my city rec league (even with the tape I'm going to be limited in what I can do.). I'm frustrated right now because I was close to lifting 225 pounds on the hang clean and I was going to test my bench press max next week. At least I can still work on my vertical since I should be able to still perform most of those exercises.
I'll let you know what happens with my hand in the days to come.
Great week of basketball in my family! I won my rec league game by 20, my church league game by 4 (I hit some free throws at the end of the game to keep us ahead), and my sons won their city league game. At the end of their game, the other team was down by one when my son picked the pocket of their ballhandler with 3 seconds left to play to seal the win. I am still pumped from their win (I coach their team and all of the players played their hearts out today)!
Here are my lifts for the week:
Standing vertical jump: 26.5" (my wife thinks it was more like 27"). I was able to get my fingers completely above the rim. With my best attempt, I had my toes pulled up and then I rolled forward as I dropped my hips into my jump. It seemed to help, but this goes against the recommended technique I've seen on-line.
One-step two-foot vertical: 29", again. My technique doesn't feel fluid. I can feel my momentum slow down when I gather myself to jump.
Broad jump: 99". I got this on the last jump.
Front squats: 185 pounds for 5 reps on all sets. I'm going all the way down to where my hamstrings touched my calves.
Good mornings: 185 pounds for 5 reps. Trying to find my groove on this exercise.
Bench press: 225 pounds for 4 sets of 4 reps
Overhead press: 150 pounds for 3 sets of 4 reps
Barbell rows: 225 pounds for 4 sets of 4 reps
Hang power cleans: I missed 225 pounds on both attempts. Maybe next week.
Hang power cleans: 215 pounds for 1 rep. I missed on the first attempt but I got it on the second. My catch wasn't as good as it could have been. I'll have to keep working on that.
So, I often joke with my kids that my main exercise goal is to remain athletic enough that I can still beat them at basketball when they're in their 20's. A few days ago, my 11 year-old son touched 8' 10" on our wall using a one-step approach. So, when my kids are in their 20's, it looks like I'll have to rely on other strategies, such as stepping on their feet and putting my elbows on top of their shoulders, to beat them at basketball (actually, those are some of the strategies I'm already using :-) )
Also, we won our rec basketball league game this week. We couldn't miss in the first half. During the second half, I was elbowed in the jaw and split open the inside of my mouth. My wife said I should start playing defense with my body instead of my face to keep that from happening again.
This week's measurements:
Standing vertical: 26 inches. I wasn't really as warmed up as I should have been... that seems to be a common theme.
One-step vertical: Around 29 inches.
Squats: 245 pounds for 6 reps. I was exhausted that day and had little energy. Work was busy this week and I ended up staying there a few hours longer the day I did squats. I should've waited one more day before squatting.
Bench press: 245 pounds for 2 reps.
Overhead press: 130 pounds for 4 reps of 6 reps. My left shoulder was tight and sore, so I cut back on the weight this week.
Barbell rows: 235 pounds for 3 reps. 245 felt really heavy last week, so I cut back a little this week.
This past week, I had a dream that was just awesome. In my house, there is an area where, going from the family room into a hallway, the ceiling transitions from a vaulted ceiling to about an 8-foot ceiling leaving a wall that starts at 8 feet and ends at over 11 feet above the floor. I'll use this wall to measure my standing vertical when it's too cold or icy to measure my vertical on my driveway basketball hoop.
In this dream, I was measuring my standing vertical and was frustrated by my lack of progress. My wife then tells me that I'm not fully extending through the hips. So, on the next jump I follow her advice and I end up hitting my right deltoid against that wall. I remember feeling like I was floating in the air and looking down at the ground and noticing how far away it seemed. It was awesome! That vertical, in real life, would have been around 41 inches.
Now, I'm not suggesting that this is a premonition of events to come and that I'll end up with a 41" standing vertical, but it has motivated me to change my training. I am going to continue weight training and add jumping technique training, without much plyometric work, for the next few weeks. I think that the reason my jumps have stalled is that my form is poor. I'm stronger than I've ever been, but I'm not using that strength to its fullest potential because of poor form. I know that the major reason for my poor technique is the fear of hurting my knees because of knee problems I've had in the past. Ironically, because of poor jumping technique, my knees are hurting after most of my plyometric exercise days.
Here are my best measurements this week:
Standing vertical: I performed 2 set of 6 reps a few days this week really trying to improve my form.
One-step vertical: Again, grabbing the rim with 2 hands.
Hexbar deadlifts, feet elevated on 2.5 inch platform: 315 pounds for 3 reps
Close-grip bench press: 225 pounds for 3 reps
Dynamic effort box squats: 175 pounds for 10 sets of 2 reps
Dynamic effort bench press: 135 pounds for 8 sets of 3 reps
Military press: 165 pounds for 3 reps
Barbell rows: 245 pounds for 3 reps
Power cleans: 205 pounds for 1 rep
Hang power cleans: 195 pounds for 1 rep
I also added Bulgarian split-squats, pogo jumps, dumbbell swings, calf raises, floor presses, and abdominal work.
My energy level was high for the first couple of workouts. Maybe all of those holiday carbs weren't such a bad thing after all.
Standing vertical jump: No change. My lack of progress with the is frustrating. I used to be able to get almost my entire hand over the rim on a standing jump.
One-step vertical jump: I was able to hang on the rim with 2 hands. I'm not sure by how many inches I improved, but I couldn't hang on the rim with 2 hands 2 weeks ago.
Max effort box squats: 315 pounds for 3 reps
Dynamic effort squats: 210 pounds for 10 sets of 2 reps. This was about 60% of my max squat. Next week, I will go back to 50%, then 55% the next week, and then back to 60% the week after that.
Close-grip bench press: 215 pounds for 3 reps.
Dynamic effort bench press: 155 pounds for 8 sets of 3 reps
Romanian deadlifts: 175 pounds for 3 sets of 5 reps. Again, I felt like I could have done more.
Barbell rows: 240 pounds for 3 reps
Barbell overhead press: 160 pounds for 3 reps
Power cleans: 195 pounds for 1 rep
Next week, I'll switch to hexbar deadlifts on a low platform for my max effort lower body lift and perform Bulgarian split-squats instead of Romanian deadlifts. However, I think I'll have 2 games next week so I may get in only one lower body workout.
